Samsung Takes Apple Lawsuit All the Way to the Supreme Court

Back in 2012, Samsung agreed to pay Apple a whopping $548 million dollars for a patent infringement lawsuit that the South Korean electronics heavyweight was found guilty of. But just recently, Samsung decided to re-open the case which was closed by a lower court, and brought it to the Supreme Court for re-evaluation.

The company requests that the highest court in the United States take a second glance at the lawsuit and asks to get the verdict re-considered; their stand being that there was no violation committed.

Samsung came to this decision not only for themselves, but for the benefit of small and medium sized businesses all over the globe that could be affected by the lawsuit. The decision reached by the lower court might cause a domino effect on players in the electronics industry, limiting the innovations and features on future devices in fear of legal challenges. However, Apple has argued that they were only doing what was best to protect their intellectual property.

While the overseas counterparts of both companies have decided to call it quits, the US versions of the suit have persisted. While Samsung has agreed to pay the $548 US Dollar penalty, they are hopeful that a change of verdict by the Supreme Court can turn this around.

There have also been suggestions that instead of valuing the penalty based on the items infringed, damages might be instead based on the profits made on the said product. Whatever the decision might be, Samsung will have to gear up for some pretty heavy losses.

Apple refused to offer their statement regarding Samsung bringing the case up to the Supreme Court, however they do firmly believe that a re-opening is unlikely. The multi-billion dollar company founded by the late Steve Jobs has simply chosen to refer to the 2012 ruling, with the basic summary that “stealing is ultimately wrong.”

All in all, the real loss is not Samsung’s, but the general public’s. Experts foresee that smaller and medium sized businesses and companies might now fear coming out with new gadgets and innovations because of potential legal concerns.

It is expected that the Supreme Court will come to decision in February on whether or not they will decide to re-open the case. Until then, Samsung, Apple, and every other business in the electronics industry will have to wait for further developments.